Poe, Revolution & The Marquis de Lafayette
Oct. 1-11, 2024
Westminster Hall
519 W. Fayette St., Baltimore, MD
UMB faculty, staff, and students with university ID receive FREE admission on weekdays and half-price admission on weekends.
THE POES OF BALTIMORE/LAFAYETTE BICENTENNIAL EXHIBIT
Presented by Poe Baltimore
Long before Edgar Allan Poe was born, the Poe family was noted in Baltimore for its service in the American Revolution and the War of 1812. A wheel maker and later assistant deputy quartermaster general who was known to George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette, Edgar Allan Poe’s grandfather, David Poe Sr., gave much for the cause of liberty alongside his wife, Elizabeth Cairnes Poe.
Learn about the Poe family’s contribution and how their service made their famous grandson’s literary career possible. Discover the remarkable connection between Edgar Allan Poe and the great Marquis de Lafayette as we celebrate the Bicentennial of Lafayette's Farewell Tour in 1824. A life-sized diorama and historical exhibit inside Westminster Hall will transport you through pivotal moments in American history, shedding light on forgotten heroes, showcasing the Poe family’s profound contributions to the founding of the nation, and later their grandson’s writing that revolutionized literature forever.
The exhibits are presented by Poe Baltimore in cooperation with the American Friends of Lafayette and Lafayette Farewell Tour Bicentennial Committee, the Society of Sons of the Revolution in the State of Maryland, Westminster Preservation Trust, the Poe Museum (Richmond, Va.), the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, Dorfman Museum Figures Inc., Headwaters Down Productions, J. Scott Watkins, Michael Davis, Jason Strutz Illustration, First & Franklin Presbyterian Church, and the Baltimore Camera Club.
Updated cemetery signage is made possible via grants by the Maryland Heritage Trust & Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, the Society of Sons of the Revolution in the State of Maryland, and the Daughters of the American Revolution, Col. John Streett Chapter.
For additional exhibit and programming information, click here.